Waking up to the sound of laughter.
Not just laughter, but shrieking, carefree, nails-on-a-blackboard laughter.
Lifted sat up, disoriented. The curtains glowed, faintly gold, and sunlight filtering in like it owned the place. He checked his phone. "Wow! It's 7:12 a.m. already."
"Who laughs like that before coffee?" he asked out loud, only to look around and realize he was literally asking himself.
He managed to drag himself to the balcony and slid open the door.
There she was. Again. Stretching in neon yoga pants, her body moving slow and fluid like she was half-performing for the ocean, as a Bluetooth speaker on the railing blasted upbeat pop music.
She caught him staring. Of course.
"Morning, Roomie," she said, unfazed.
"I'm not your roommate," he replied, with a straight face.
"Balcony buddy, then." She grinned, bending forward into a stretch that made her undeniably, perfectly rounded curves impossible to ignore. "You're up early. Want to join yoga? Sun salutations are good for the soul. And posture. Yours could use some work."
Lifted's gaze snapped up, jaw tight. "I'd rather be waterboarded."
"Charming as always." She reached for her drink: a green sludge in a mason jar. "Suit yourself."
He shut the door, but not before he caught a flicker of satisfaction on her lips. She knew he'd been looking.
By breakfast, the universe had conspired against him. The resort's dining hall was already crowded, and the only open seat was across from Charlotte. She was already halfway through a stack of pancakes. Her hair was damp from a swim, with droplets tracing the smooth line of her collarbone.
He hesitated. She waved her fork. "Don't be shy. Sit. I promise not to bump into your laptop," she said, as she smiled.
He sat. Reluctantly.
"You look miserable," she observed.
"I am miserable."
She laughed, licking syrup from her finger, the small, casual gesture making his throat tighten unexpectedly. "You should try smiling. Might improve your face."
"Or I could not," he said, turning his face away.
She tilted her head. "Has anyone ever told you you're impossible?"
"LOL. If I received a dollar every time I was told that, I'd be Bruce Wayne."
Their food arrived, and for a brief moment, there was peace. At least, until Charlotte leaned in, her perfume teasing him with something citrusy and warm.
"So… I heard they're running a beach scavenger hunt today. Prizes and everything. You in?"
He snorted. "Do I look like a scavenger hunt kind of guy?"
"You look like you haven't done anything fun since birth. Which is exactly why you should do it."
"I have work."
"You're on vacation."
"I have personal work."
She smirked, tracing her straw along the rim of her glass. "Fine. But don't come crying when I win a free spa day."
He stabbed his toast. "I won't cry."
"What am I? A baby?" he muttered.
An hour later, fate mocked him again.
He walked into the resort's activity desk, hoping to borrow a power adapter. Instead, he was handed a clipboard.
"Great! You're just in time!" the staffer chirped. "We needed one more participant to even out the scavenger hunt teams. You'll be paired with…"
Lifted's stomach sank.
"Charlotte Gold!"
Charlotte appeared at his side, grinning like she'd written the script. "Well, well, well. Looks like destiny believes in team-building."
"Destiny has poor judgment."
"Relax," she said, patting his arm. Her fingers lingered a second too long, heat sparking at the point of contact, forcing them to slowly turn their heads, facing themselves, before she pulled back.
The scavenger hunt was chaos. Running barefoot across hot sand, decoding riddles, searching for seashells, all of these while dodging other teams. Lifted hated all of it.
Charlotte, however, thrived. She bounded across the beach, dragging him along by the wrist more than once. Every time her skin touched his, it left a ghost of warmth that annoyed him far more than he thought it would.
At one point, they had to dig through a sandpit, in search for a plastic key. Lifted crouched reluctantly, sifting halfheartedly. Charlotte dove in, hair falling into her face, and her tank top sliding dangerously low, hovering just above her areola, as she reached deeper.
When she popped up, triumphant, holding the key above her head, she looked radiant. Flushed, messy, but glowing with victory.
Then she tripped on her own enthusiasm and fell into him, both of them toppling into the sand.
The breath rushed out of his chest as her body pressed against his, soft curves fitting awkwardly, no, fitting perfectly against his well-built chest.
"Oops," she said, her face inches from his. Her breath smelled like pineapple and sugar.
He froze. Every rational part of him screamed to move, to shove her off. But his body had other ideas, heat crawling low and insistent.
Charlotte smirked, as if she felt it too, and rolled away before he could react.
"Accident," she said sweetly, brushing sand from her thighs.
His pulse betrayed him, hammering hard enough he almost believed she could hear it.
By the time the scavenger hunt ended, they had come in second place — Charlotte high-fiving strangers, Lifted muttering about wasted hours and sand in his socks.
"You had fun," she teased, nudging him.
"I did not."
"You did."
He opened his mouth to argue, but then caught himself smirking. Just barely.
Charlotte's eyes widened. "Oh my God. Was that a smile?"
"No."
"Yes! It was!" She gasped dramatically. "Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars! Lifted can smile!"
He quickened his pace. "I need a shower."
She jogged to keep up, bumping his arm with hers. "Don't worry, Grumpy. I'll make you a fun person before this week is over."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It is."
That night, as the sun bled orange across the horizon, Lifted sat on his balcony again, his laptop balanced on his knees. He was debugging a script when laughter drifted over the divider— Charlotte, chatting on the phone. "Of course, it's her again."
Her voice was softer this time, less bubbly, threaded with exhaustion. "Yeah… I know. I just really need this deal to go through. It's been a rough quarter."
Lifted hesitated, fingers hovering above his keyboard. For the first time, he wondered if maybe her sunshine wasn't as effortless as it looked. And that thought — more than her smile, more than her body pressed against his earlier, unsettled him most of all.